Trust? Is that important in a clinical work environment?

Posted July 30, 2025

Yes, trust is extremely important in a clinical workplace. Building and sustaining trust is foundational to a positive and healthy work culture. This significantly impacts patient care and safety, strengthens collaboration, boosts morale and retention, enhances leadership effectiveness, enhances conflict resolution. That’s common sense, right? My dad used to say, “If it’s so common, why doesn’t everyone have it?”

Why indeed.

Let’s look at the impact trust has on workplace culture:

According to a 2025 study by The Joint Commission, 97.7% of healthcare workers reported that the level of trust they have in their organization’s leadership affects them professionally.

a. Those who trusted leadership more reported higher job satisfaction and better work quality.

A 2025 Press Ganey report, based on feedback from 2.3 million healthcare workers, emphasized that trust, respect, and belonging are the strongest predictors of engagement and retention—even more than compensation.

Every day you have the opportunity and choice to use trust builders and trust breakers. Trust builders foster open communication by doing things like listening to understand and discussing the ‘undiscussables. Trust builders develop when you are reliable and consistent. Some of the ways you can achieve this is by keeping your commitments, acting with integrity, and challenging unproductive behavior in the clinic. Make it known that you seek and value all opinions and are open to differing ideas. Proactively include others and encourage team members to lead. Be an advocate for your team. Commit to ensuring everyone receives due recognition and credit. To paraphrase Simon Sinek – being a leader means taking all the blame when things go wrong and giving out all the credit when things go right.. Share thoughts, feelings and rationale with your team and commit to mutual openness. Let your team see that it’s a two-way street. Be open about your vulnerabilities or imperfections and allow your team to discover how to use their strengths to compensate for those imperfections. Show your team that you have heard and understand their underlying feelings and that you value what they have to say. Be a leader who can be relied on to give your full, undivided attention. Listening and responding with this type of empathy encourages people to open up to you because they know that you can be counted on to honor your commitment.

Unfortunately, the impact to a workplace culture can be devastating when trust breakers are present. At the front of the list, broken promises. When a leader fails to follow through, or does not keep commitments, trust is broken. Many of us have had the misfortune to work in Labs, Hospitals, OBLs, ASCs, where trust is not present. This shows itself daily when leaders serve their own interest by making excuses, blaming the team, deflecting and pointing fingers. Trust breakers come in many forms; betraying confidences, being unpredictable, avoiding issues, failing to consider others’ viewpoints, micromanaging and more. There are dozens of trust breakers that are not mentioned here. Think about your own career and a workplace situation in which you had your trust damaged. How many trust breakers can you recall?

So, how does building and sustaining trust in a clinical setting enhance the workplace?

🩺 1. Improves Patient Care and Safety

🤝 2. Strengthens Interdisciplinary Collaboration

📈 3. Boosts Staff Morale and Retention

💡 4. Encourages Continuous Learning and Innovation

🧠 5. Enhances Leadership Effectiveness

🛡️ 6. Reduces Conflict and Enhances Conflict Resolution

Think about your everyday interactions with your team. What do you do to build their confidence and allow them to trust you and you to trust them?

Scott Snyder

SVP Organizational Development

904.613.7996

ssnyder@americanvascular.com